List of amendments
Unofficial consolidated version of the Emergency Housing Grants Programme
-- as at 4 September 2026
Below is a list of amendments to the programme, starting with the most recent.
Source | Notes |
Instrument amending Welfare Programmes (Modernisation - Automated Decision-Making - End of School Year) 2026 Gazette notice: Effective date: 4 September 2026 | This instrument, which comes into force on 4 September 2026, amends nine welfare programmes under the Social Security Act 2018 in response to the amendments made through the Social Security (Modernisation) Amendment Act 2026 (Modernisation Act). The welfare programmes that are being amended are set out in Schedule 1 of this instrument. The instrument inserts provisions into the specified welfare programmes to reflect policy changes for the end of school year review process under the Modernisation Act. Under this process, a dependent child is excluded from being included in a caregiver's benefit or special assistance once the child turns 18, unless the caregiver confirms (and the Ministry is satisfied) that the child is not financially independent and is in school or tertiary education. The child will then continue to be included in the caregiver's benefit or special assistance until the earlier of the child being financially independent, leaving school or tertiary education, or until 31 December following the child's 18th birthday. The instrument incorporates the above policy changes into seven of the specified welfare programmes by inserting a new definition of dependent child in each programme. Under the new definition, the Ministry can include an 18 year old child as a dependent child for the purposes of an application for special assistance under each of the programmes, if either of the following circumstances apply:
The instrument also makes consequential amendments and minor editorial corrections to existing language in the welfare programmes. These amendments ensure that the welfare programmes continue to operate as intended following the changes made by the Modernisation Act. |
Instrument amending Ministerial Directions and Welfare Programmes 2026 Gazette notice: Effective date: 1 April 2026 | This instrument, which comes into force on 1 April 2026, amends a number of Ministerial Directions and Ministerial welfare programmes under the Social Security Act 2018: Clause 4 and Schedule 1:
Clause 4 and Schedule 2:
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Instrument amending Welfare Programmes 2025 Gazette notice: Effective date: 26 May 2025 and 20 October 2025 | This instrument, the majority of which comes into force on 26 May 2025, amends the Special Needs Grants Programme and the Emergency Housing Grants Programme to clarify that an applicant is not entitled to or eligible for grants under those programmes if the rate of their benefit is reduced by half or to zero (under section 236 of the Social Security Act 2018 (the Act)), if their benefit is suspended (under section 237 of the Act), if a non-financial sanction that MSD imposed on them has effect, or if their benefit is subject to section 239 of the Act. This amendment enacts the policy intent that persons who are subject to sanctions under the Social Security Act 2018 (the Act) are not able to access hardship assistance. The Social Security Amendment Act 2025 introduces the ability for MSD to impose a non-financial sanction, as an alternative to a reduction in the rate of a person's main benefit for a first obligation failure, if certain eligibility requirements are met. The amendments in this instrument enable the non-financial sanctions to be included as sanctions that make an applicant ineligible for Special Needs Grants or Emergency Housing Grants. As the non-financial sanctions in sections 236E and 236H of the Act will only come into force on 20 October 2025, the amendments in Schedule 2 of this instrument (which insert the references to those sections in the relevant clauses of the Programmes), will only come into force on that same date. |
